Pickled Santa - Ridgeway Brewing

budgood1

Minnesota

2.25/5  rDev -32%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

pours out of the half litre bottle a perfectly clear amber colour with an inch high snow white head backed up by some very active carbonation. nice wisps of lace. very clean vienna lager aroma of faint spices such as nutmeg and maybe some cinnamon...there even might be some green apple and bananas in there too. there is a quite a bit of dry spice in the flavour profile...so much i was taken aback a bit. liquid gingerbread comes to mind...molasses, nutmeg and cinnamon dominate...definitely overwhelming any maltiness present. a touch of hop bitterness in the end gets overwhelmed by the lingering spice notes. medium body at best with a strange, dry, almost chalky mouthfeel that i find off putting. drinkability suffers for me becasue i find this holiday brew neither enjoyable nor festive.

i must have gotten a fresh bottle because the spicing is overwhelming. this does not constitute a winter warmer for me but rather a herb/spiced beer...and a poor one at that.

Serving type: bottle

12-05-2009 00:21:22 | More by budgood1

AndrewMcLemore

Texas

1.8/5  rDev -45.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Let me say first, I think is a terrible beer. If you love Bubblelicious gum and shots that mix cherry and chocolate, you'll probably enjoy the Pickled Santa.

However, if you like real beer that doesn't taste like expired candy from the back of the corner store, you will not like this beer.

At first the Pickled Santa seems pleasing enough. It has a humorous label and the color is a nice golden brown with a decent retention and a fluffy, sensitive head.

But then there is the faint whiff of chemically-enhanced pink chewing gum of the kind that stales quickly within the plastic wrap of trading cards and one wonders where this beer went very, very wrong.

The taste continues the theme I've already latched onto. I searched my palette for the spiciness one assumes would exist in an English X-mas ale, but they mostly alluded me with the exception of way, WAY too much coriander, which I'm not altogether certain should be in a beer to begin with and certainly not this one.

I'd give the mouthfeel a decent score mostly on the benefit of the doubt. It's hard to be sure with so much false sweetness to contend with. Seriously, did they put Splenda in this thing?

Don't pay for this beer. Buy Bud Lite before you dole out your hard-earned money for this sugarless gum of a beer.

Serving type: bottle

12-14-2008 19:49:20 | More by AndrewMcLemore

IchabodcraneIpa

Illinois

1.5/5  rDev -54.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 1 | feel: 3 | overall: 1

Served in a bottle

I picked this up during the Christmas season just to try one of the many seasonal types of beer that were available. Once I popped this open and took a smell of the beer inside it smelled a little strange to me. The smell reminded me more of a vinegar- esque flavor and once I took a sip my mouth was taken on a journey that I never want to recreate again. Now don't get me wrong, this isn't that bad of a beer, the flavor just was not something that I myself could truly enjoy. It started off tasting of spices like nutmeg, Dill, and possibly Ginger, but then took a complete 180 and to me it actually tasted like a pickle. The flavor then faded away to leave a strange dill like taste. For those looking for an interesting take on a beer I would suggest this particular brew but I just did not like the feel of the pickle taste in my mouth after awhile.

Serving type: bottle

02-15-2011 03:11:35 | More by IchabodcraneIpa

imaguitargod

Ohio

1.3/5  rDev -60.7%
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1.5

This was, by far, the strangest beer I'd ever had. It poured to a medium head and a copper color. Now this is where it got weird. Upon tasting it, there was a slight hop bitterness that hit my tongue and then nothing. I didn't taste any spices, any malt, any other hops. It actually felt like the beer disappeared in my mouth. Extremely disappointing and hallow.

~Jonathan Passow

Serving type: on-tap

12-25-2010 14:29:26 | More by imaguitargod